Coronavirus: Boris Johnson to chair emergency Cobra meeting on moving UK to 'delay' phase after outbreak declared pandemic

Eight people with Covid-19 die in UK as total number of cases rises to 460

Boris Johnson will chair an emergency Cobra meeting on Thursday during which he is expected to approve moving to the “delay phase” of the coronavirus response, after the outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Moving from the containment to the delay stage would mean social distancing measures would be enacted, including restricting public gatherings and issuing more widespread advice to stay at home.

It comes after eight people with Covid-19 were confirmed to have died in the UK, as the total number of positive cases rose to 460.

A Cabinet minister was also reported to be self-isolating while awaiting a test result after coming into contact with the health minister, Nadine Dorries, who is self-isolating at home after being diagnosed with the disease.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, told reporters on Wednesday the number of cases outside China has increased 13-fold in the past two weeks to over 118,000. The number of affected countries has also tripled.

He said individual countries could still change the course of the virus through their actions, but said the agency expected the number of deaths and affected countries to climb higher.

“WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” he said.

“We have therefore made the assessment that Covid-19 can be characterised as a pandemic.”

But Mr Tedros advised that despite the change in the language, WHO is still advising countries to remain in the containment phase.

Also on Wednesday, the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust said a patient in their seventies being treated for underlying health conditions had died after testing positive for Covid-19.

And the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, said an elderly patient being treated for a number of serious underlying health conditions had also died.

It came as a 53-year-old British woman was reported to have died from Covid-19 in Indonesia.

She was ill with other health conditions, including diabetes and lung disease, the Indonesian government said.

Official figures show that 460 people in the UK have now tested positive for coronavirus, with the largest day-on-day jump recorded, and cases more than doubling in just four days.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, told MPs on Wednesday evening an emergency Bill is to be put before the Commons next week on measures to tackle coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Italy jumped by 196 in 24 hours to 827 on Wednesday; the total number of infections there rose to 12,462.

It comes as:

• There are now more than 121,000 infections in 118 countries, and over 4,300 people have died from the virus, according to a Reuters tally
• Italy tightens nationwide lockdown by shutting bars, hairdressers and restaurants
• Virus sends Dow into bear market for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis
• Cases top 1,000 across US as testing becomes more available
• Denmark shuts all schools and universities after a 10-fold increase in cases
• A female patient with underlying health conditions became the first death linked to coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland
• England’s cricketers have been instructed not to sign autographs or pose for selfies with fans during their Test tour of Sri Lanka, while Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Arsenal has been postponed as a “precautionary measure” over coronavirus fears
• PHE defended its decision not to test everyone with symptoms, saying it must focus on those at highest risk. The NHS intends to ramp up testing facilities
• E3, the annual video games convention in Los Angeles, has been cancelled due to “overwhelming concerns” about Covid-19

On Wednesday the chancellor Rishi Sunak set out plans for the health service in his Budget and pledged security and support for those who are sick and unable to work due to the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Sunak said: “Whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus it will get – whether it’s millions of pounds or billions of pounds, whatever it needs, whatever it costs, we stand behind our NHS.”

Earlier, the government said there were no plans to test any ministers, including Mr Johnson, for Covid-19 following Ms Dorries’ positive diagnosis.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, told the Daily Telegraph he was “at the tail end of a cold” after people on social media raised concerns about him coughing during the Budget.

He told the paper: “I’ve already been checked for coronavirus and it was negative.”

Additional reporting by agencies